Selective laser sintering of MA956 oxide dispersion strengthened steel

Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) steels' qualities of radiation damage resistance and high strength at high temperature make them promising nuclear structural materials. However, the dispersed yttria that gives ODS steel its beneficial qualities are generally compromised during joining processes, making fabrication difficult and expensive. The selective laser sintering process offers a potential path through this barrier by which net-shape parts can feasibly be built via additive manufacturing without fully melting the structure. Rastering a 400 W laser over a 110 mu m MA956 ODS steel powder bed, we additively built parts with varying build conditions. Although density was achieved to within 97% of the wrought MA956, ultimate tensile strengths achieved only 65% of the wrought strength. Spectroscopy analysis points to the agglomeration of the yttria nano-particles as a possible explanation for the loss in strength. Further study might benefit from exploration of other parameters such as thinner powder build layers which would require less energy input to achieve sintering while minimizing time above the melting temperature. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.